Trivia, Notes, Allusions and Pop/Geek Culture References
This page is a list of Trivia, Notes, Allusions and Pop/Geek Culture References Chuck taken from TV.com Season one Disk set *The public announcement for pirating in the season one disk set uses "Casablanca" to tie the message to the show. Trivia * Chuck has a movie poster of Tron, a Disney sci-fi motion picture about a software engineer abducted into a computer world. Where Tron is about a man trapped inside a supercomputer, Chuck is about a supercomputer trapped inside a man. * Dropping a computer wouldn't severely damage a computer hard drive. At worst, it would damage the mechanical linkages inside the drive, but the physical damage wouldn't affect the data stored on the platters. The CIA/NSA would easily be able to recover data from the damaged drive. The damage was probably incurred from the Intersect, given that Chuck is not seen using the computer between the download and the drop. * When Sarah is pursuing Chuck in the hotel lobby through the small pond we can clearly see that after Sarah passes the pond she is wearing flat, maybe rubber, black boots, when in fact she was wearing high heeled boots in the scene before and in the scene after. * Chuck's footwear of choice are Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars, most commonly referred to simply as "Chucks". Allusions * Zork is a reference to a real computer game which was one of the first interactive fiction computer games. * In the scene where agent Bryce is trying to evade capture before his death, he uses free running or "parkour" to escape. This is new trend of extreme sports started in France and is seen most notably in the film District B13. Much of the chase scene is copied shot for shot from District B13. * As Chuck is walking in the Costco like store when he turns the corner you can see a pallet of astro diapers. Most likely an allusion to the astronaut who drove a long time to go to a romantic rivals house in astronaut diapers. * The Nerd Herd at the Buy More (the store at which Chuck is employed), is an obvious allusion to the real life Geek Squad at Best Buy. * The console interface for the Intersect is a 1985-era Apple Macintosh computer. Apple products are a fairly blatant product placement throughout the series. * After Chuck has "uploaded" the Intersect, he ask Morgan to drive the Nerd Herder. When Chuck request Morgan to "stay off the 5...", Morgan responds with "Thanks for the tip, Ponch." This is a reference to the 1977-1983 show C.H.I.P.S. where Erik Estrada plays Frank "Ponch" Poncherello. Trivia * It seems highly unlikely that a NSA explosive would have an audible alert to notify individuals of its presence and the imminent explosion. * A few minutes into the episode the camera lingers on a Nerd Herd banner with a URL. The website existed: http://www.nerdherdhelp.com/. * Tony Todd (Graham), John Flek (Zarnow), and Robert Duncan McNeill (director) all had previous connections to Star Trek. Todd played numerous roles including Worf's brother Kurn, Flek appeared on Star Trek: Enterprise and McNeill played Tom Paris on Star Trek Voyager. * The title of Bryce's Obituary claims he died in a Robbery. However in the actual text of the article he is said to have died in an "Automobile Crash" while on a fishing expedition. Allusions * The chasing of the shoplifter at the start of the episode along with with the shot of the running legs, Iggy Pop soundtrack and "life" speech are a nod to the Academy Award nominated British film "Trainspotting". * While being examined by Dr. Zarnow, Chuck flashes on a photo with encoded intel saying that Oceanic Flight 815 was shot down by a missile. This is in reference to the ABC program LOST, where the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 crash land on a remote tropical island. Trivia * La Ciudad translates to English (from Spanish) as "The City". * When Morgan attempts to describe Chuck, he tells the hotel employee that Chuck is 6'1", when in actuality, Zachary Levi is 6'3". * In Madrid, the Landrover has a California plate. * La Ciudad's pistol fires with a loud bang when shooting at John and Sarah through the door even though the pistol has a silencer on it. This is actually much more accurate than the silent "pfft" frequently used in films and television. Popular Culture * Morgan calls Chuck a "Gelding," referring to the main character of the Jim Henson fantasy film The Dark Crystal. The character's actual race is called a "Gelfling." A gelding is a castrated male animal, particularly a horse. * The frequent references to the tango are a nod to the Arnold Schwarzenegger action-comedy True Lies. In the film, Schwarzenegger's character is distracted several times on missions while dancing the tango. * Chuck references the painting of interest as very "Bob Rossian." This is in reference to the PBS painter Bob Ross. He is renowned for his oil landscapes, his naturalist, gentile manner and afro. * When Morgan is locked in the storage cage, the opera music is a reference to The Shawshank Redemption when Andy Dufresne locks himself in the warden's office listening to an opera on record * When Chuck is asked to flash on the photographs of the people who were murdered, Chuck asks if the people are sleeping. This is a reference to Episode 39 of Red vs. Blue, when Caboose asks Sarge if all of the dead people are sleeping. Trivia * The sentence Carina speaks in a foreign language is "Om jag slänger nycklarna till dig, kommer du tappa dem då?" which is Swedish for "If I throw you the keys, will you drop them?" Sarah answers in Polish: "Tylko jak rzucisz jak twoja mamusia", which means "Only if you throw it like your mommy". * We find out that Sarah's middle name is Lisa. * When Carina hides the diamond in Morgan's bag, the bag displays the name Tyrell Corporation. Tyrell Corporation is the company that builds the replicants in the movie Blade Runner (1982) References to popular culture * Actor James Hong played David Lo Pan in the action film Big Trouble in Little China. His name in this episode, Ben Lo Pan, is in reference to his previous role as Hong had literally "been" Lo Pan. * When Morgan says to Chuck, "Help me, Chuck Bartowski; you're my only hope," he references Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope when a hologram of Princess Leia appears, saying "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope." * Chuck mentions the films The Hunt for Red October and White Nights as examples of foreign agents defecting all the time. * When attempting to arrest Lo Pan in his mansion, Casey calls him "Ironside," in reference to the Raymond Burr character. Ironside was a detective who used a wheelchair. * Chuck tells Lo Pan; "Forget it Ben, it's Chinatown" when he's stopped while trying to escape. This is in reference to the last line of the film Chinatown, a film in which James Hong had a role. * While waiting in the car, Chuck listens to a radio show featuring a "Dr. Stu," which is a reference to the L.A. based radio show Loveline * During the "sales competition" Morgan is in last place. He rambles on about being fired and starving in a soup line. Morgan then makes the comment "Soup's not a meal..." This could be a reference to the Seinfeld episode "The Soup" (S6E7) where Kenny Bania gives Jerry an Armani suit in exchange for a "meal". References to popular culture * When Chuck cuts the wire on the Herder's self-destruct, the timer stops at 7 seconds. This echoes the scene in Goldfinger when Bond disarms a bomb set to explode inside Fort Knox, which also stops at 7 seconds. However the Herder's timer has an extra digit, making the time read 00:07 rather than 0:07 (Double-Oh 7). The film Goldfinger was discussed on several occasions leading up to this scene. * The end scene when Chuck runs back home in slow-motion while Finlay Quaye's song "Dice" plays, is a copy of the end sequence from The O.C. episode "The Countdown." The O.C. was the debut series of Chuck producer Josh Schwartz. * Greg Baine is credited as Special Agent Ben Katz. Benjamin Katz is the titular character of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. * After Sarah gives Chuck a photo of them together at Comic-Con, Chuck mentions that they never actually went to Comic-Con together. However Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski actually attended San Diego Comic Con International in July 2007 as part of the promotion for the show. * When Laszlo reveals the Home Theater room can access Air Force command channels, he asks Chuck "How about a game of Thermonuclear War?" The film War Games centered on a computer system that mistook a game for a real order to launch its missiles. The name of the "game," actually a military simulation, was Global Thermonuclear War. * Laszlo is a nod to Casablanca character, Victor Laszlo. * The game Morgan is playing at the pier is called Guitar Shredder, a reference to the Guitar Hero series of games. * Chuck and Morgan's Halloween costume is a sandworm from Frank Herbert's Dune franchise, and several posters for the 1984 film adaptation of the 1965 novel Dune can be seen throughout the episode. * This episode reveals Harry Tang's middle name to be "Tiberius". A reference to Star Trek's Captain James Tiberius Kirk. References to popular culture * Ironically, although set at Stanford, filming of the episode--with the exception of stock footage--actually took place on the campus of rival UCLA. The two schools were playing each other in football in this episode. * Captain Awesome remarks that instead of Stanford he'd rather see UCLA play SC (the University of Southern California), the Alma Mater of series creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. * Chuck's old fraternity at Stanford is Gamma Delta Phi. * The Library of Congress Classification code for the copy of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire seen in the episode is incorrect. * The number on the paper (219 F5U922) given to Chuck by Professor Flemming does not correspond to a Library of Congress Classification code nor a Dewey Decimal number. * The tv game the Buy More employees play they call "fingers of furry". A nod to the classic Bruce Lee film, Fist of Furry. * The "One Remote" used by Harry in this episode appears to be a Logitech Harmony 880 or 890 model remote. Since only the Harmony 890 can use RF (as opposed to IR), it is presumed that the remote must be a Harmony 890, as only RF capability would allow such broad-sweeping ability to change channels from a distance. * The "One Remote" is also a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings". Where the remote is like the "One Ring" to rule them all. * The ending of this episode contradicts the story of how Chuck and Jill met that Chuck told at the beginning of "Chuck Versus the Intersect". The Pilot describes Chuck and Jill meeting by "bumping" into one another in the quad, whereas this episode seems to indicate Bryce introducing Chuck to Jill. References to popular culture * When Sarah tells Chuck it's time for them to make love, he chokes on his drink and mutters "Hot coffee!" Hot Coffee was a hidden mini-game in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that received significant media attention because it allowed players to perform sexual acts on NPCs in the game. * The use of pentothal as a truth agent is a common convention of the spy and action genre, although there is no medical basis to support its effects. * The display of martial arts by Payne easily combated by a single gunshot by Sarah Walker is a nod to a similar scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Payne's scream that follows the gunshot (Wilhelm scream) features in every Indiana Jones film and throughout the Star Wars films. Trivia *The shipping container containing Bryce's human transport container has biological hazard symbols printed on it. *When Chuck tells Morgan that he has broken up with Sarah, he says that they are "no mas". This translates from Spanish as "no more". Popular Culture *Near the beginning of the episode, when Chuck is talking to Morgan, just as he references Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, they walk past the TV wall which is displaying the game. *When Chuck 'breaks up' with Sarah in the Home Theater Room, Jeff and Lester quote the famous Pat Benatar song "Heartbreaker": "Heartbreaker, Dream-maker, Love-taker". *While Chuck is making up with Lou, one of the deli employees says "He had me at pastrami," in reference to the famous "You had me at hello," quote from Jerry Maguire with Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger. Trivia * After Casey shoots Bryce in his apartment, Chuck sits by Casey's fireplace. It is apparent that there is no flue present. Allusions * Morgan: Turn on your heartlight, buddy. Let it glow. Morgan paraphrases the Neil Diamond song Turn on your Heartlight, which he wrote to commemorate the movie E.T. * Chuck himself realizes that Bryce's farewell line to Sarah "We'll always have Omaha" is a nod to Casablanca. The final shot of this episode in which Sarah is deciding between phone calls from both Chuck and Bryce also evokes Ingrid Bergman's romantic dilemma in the airport climax of that movie. * The drug Bryce injects Chuck with is dehalcynate, the fictional drug from the movie The Island (2005). * The language spoken by Chuck and Bryce is Klingon, an alien language created for the Star Trek film and series franchise. The Klingon dialogue between Chuck and Bryce appears to be generally correct, however the pronunciation by both actors is poor (additionally, in the various incarnations of Star Trek Klingon is a harsh, barked language even when spoken by human characters). Trivia * When Chuck picks up the hundred dollar bill on the floor just before he flashes, it is bent and slightly crumpled. After the ladies pass by and the flash sequence happens, the bill is completely clean as if just pressed. * Just as the missile is about to hit the Crown Vic, you can clearly see the windshield and other windows have been removed to avoid injury in the upcoming explosion. * Agent Casey's 1985 Crown Victoria has a 4.6L V8, however the Crown Victoria wasn't equipped with the 4.6L V8 until 1992. The 1985 Crown Victoria was originally equipped with a 5.0L V8. The actual vehicle shown is a 1991 5.0L model. * Chuck mistakes the contents of a crate to contain counterfeit plates. As it turns out, it only contains medical supplies. This blunder also occurred in "Chuck Versus the Imported Hard Salami", where Chuck mistakes Lou's crate to contain smuggled weapons when in fact, it had imported meat in them. * After Chuck receives the photo from Morgan and jumps to the computer. The Year without a Santa Clause is playing on the monitors behind him. * Throughout the Buy More scenes, the Rankin & Bass stop action Christmas specials The Year without a Santa Clause and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is playing on a loop in the background. * After the Buy More gambling scene, Burl Ives version of "''Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas" that was recorded for Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer special. '''Allusions * Chuck: "Well she sure is Shiny." * Casey: Yeah, she's shiny! In the universe of the series Firefly and the movie Serenity, the word "shiny" was commonly used (including Adam Baldwin's character, Jayne) as a synonym for "cool". * Big Mike calls Morgan " Captain Stubin" while wearing a captain's like outfit. Another reference to the TV show the Love Boat. * While Morgan is at the Nerd Herd desk wearing his captain's outfit, Chuck says "Looking Good, Morgan." Morgan then responds, "Feeling Good, Chuck." This is an allusion to the Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy's '''''Trading Places. * Chuck calls Morgan "little Buddy" just as the 'Skipper' calls Gilligan on the show Gilligan's Island. * While Morgan is on Anna's parent's yacht, he stands leaning over the bow with arms held wide yelling "I'm King of the World!" This is mirroring the scene in Titanic. Trivia * In the beginning of the episode, when Ilsa is trying on the necklace, subtitles say "I love it", while the Russian phrase that she says "Ya obozhayu eto" really means - "I adore it". The phrase that Casey says, "Ya rada, chto tebe nravitsya" ("I am glad you like it") is actually a phrase for a woman to say, while a man would say "Ya rad, chto tebe nravitsya." * Sarah does not say "Don't touch me again, pig." in Russian to her assailant (as the subtitles say). Her statement isn't very clear because of a very heavy non-Russian accent, but it sounds more like: "Touch me again, and I'll break-off not only your finger." (Datronsya do menya otkruchu ne tolko paletz.) * The dance the Russian arms dealers are performing at the hotel is called Kalinka and is a national Russian dance. Allusions * Casey: "Where did you learn how to tie people up? From a 'Rocky and Bullwinkle' cartoon?" This is an obvious reference to the show that aired in 1959, where the cartoon features a comedic duo consisting of the flying squirrel Rocket J. "Rocky" Squirrel and his friend, Bullwinkle J. Moose. The duo were chased by two bungling Russian "spies", Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. The tying is a direct reference to the "spies" and their ineptness to capture the elusive "Moose and Squirrel." * This episode includes many references to the 1942 movie Casablanca including: #) The name of Casey's ex-girlfriend is Ilsa, the same name as Rick's ex-girlfriend in Casablanca. #) Ilsa is about to marry Victor, this is again a continual reference to Casablance. Ilsa's husband in the film is named Victor. #) Casey's ex-girlfriend gets on a plane seemingly never to see him again, the same as in Casablanca with Rick and Ilsa. #) Chuck says "Don't worry buddy, you'll always have me". In Casablanca the line was "We'll always have Paris". #) Chuck says to Casey: "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship". The same famous line used in Casablanca by Rick to Captain "Louie" Renault. #) When Ilsa meets Casey in the Buy More, the movie playing on the TV is Casablanca. * Chuck's reaction when Casey does manage, even minimally, to open up ("It's alive!") is a quote from the 1931 classic version of Frankenstein, by the doctor at the first stirrings of the monster. * The fall from the balcony is a nod to Lethal Weapon II (1989). Trivia * The rooftop/helipad where Sarah confronts agent "Longshore" when he attempts to extract Chuck, is the same location where she took Chuck after requesting extraction to protect him from Casey in Pilot. * Chuck sends the photograph of the Shawarma Girl to Sarah's iPhone via an email to "sarah@wienerlicious.net". * Sarah: (To a customer) Danke, dass Sie uns im Wienerlicious besucht haben. The translation of this German phrase is: "Thank you for visiting us at Wienerlicious." * The code to reveal Sarah's hidden computer console at Wienerlicious is 720 + enter on the cash register. * When the delivery girl walks in to give the food, Chuck says: "29 deliveries, 29 bugs." It was 29 minutes into the show. Allusions * Sarah mentions that their "bugs" were "EM-50's". This is a reference to the Urban Assault Vehicle in the movie Stripes. * The chip name GLG 20 comes from the 1985 movie Spies Like Us with Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase. Aykroyd and Chase played two bumbling decoy spies. GLG-20 is a reference to their status; as GLG-20s, they would be considered "international covert operatives." * Big Mike's assertion that, when he finds the thief who robbed the Buy More, "I'm gonna break my foot off in his behind." is the same one made to King Jaffe Joffer by Cleo McDowell in Coming to America. * The marlin is identical to that featured in the 1990 David Lynch TV series Twin Peaks. Season Two Trivia * Jeff's Resume: (Written on a napkin) I've worked here forever...18 years and know where all the bodies are buried. Ha Ha Ha My coworkers have nice feet. I like to take pictures of them and then (Finger covers 1 word) them. * When Casey sticks his needle in his chest, we can see in a point of view that he plants it in his tie, in another plan, you can see the needle sticked near to the tie. (~17:16) * On the roof top fight between Sarah and Colt, when Sarah is in a choke hold, the move she uses to get out of the choke hold is identical to that used by Jet Li in the fight against "Hercules O'Brien". * When Chuck comes with the marines, his tie is hooked into his left shirt pocket, and in another plan, his tie is hang normal (~33:16-33:18-33:38) Allusion * During Chuck's interview with Lester for the position of Buy More Assistant Manager, Lester was doing an impression of Don Vito Corleone, the head of the fictional Mafia family in the Godfather films. * Ellie: If you say pilot of the Millenium Falcon, I will hit you. The Millenium Falcon is the spacecraft flown by Han Solo and Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies. *Morgan's way to pick the next assistant manager is a knock-off of the movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, where two people enter and only one person leaves. Trivia * When Roan ask Chuck to kiss Sara, Chuck hesitates and responds "It's just that I had a burrito earlier, and I'm trying to be respectful." This may be an allusion to the scene in "Chuck versus the Imported Hard Salami" where Sara kisses Chuck when they thought they may die. During the commentary of this scene, Levy states that he was in the middle of devouring a burrito when he was called to the set. Allusion * The character name Sasha Banacheck is a nod to Linda Fiorentino's character of the same name in Gotcha!. She portrayed a CIA agent that seduced a college student (played by Anthony Edwards) in order to have him unknowingly smuggle a film canister out of East Germany. This allusion may also be self-referential, as it is revealed in "Chuck Versus the Alma Mater" that Chuck and Bryce played a version of "Gotcha!" (known as "Assassin") in Stanford's library. * Chuck: Remember, we'll always have Paris. This is in reference to the famous phrase from the 1942 classic movie Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. * When Chuck flashes the mugshots of various CIA/NSA agents, including Sarah Walker and John Casey, the mugshots mistakenly identifies National Security Agency (NSA) agents, including Casey, as part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), that is incorrect. The NSA is actually a branch of the US Department of Defense (DOD), which is why the gang's superior officer is General Beckman. Beckman is a US Air Force General. * When Chuck flashes on the Intersect data drive, pictures of the following persons are shown in split seconds: Mock, Kevin; NSA Agent ID 3234-2808; Status: Active Cruz, Sarah; NSA Agent ID 8842-6367; Status: Active Agent Code Name: Scott Hatcher (CIA) Agent Code Name: Sarah Walker (CIA) Agent Code Name: Lauren Goldenberg (CIA) Casey, John; NSA Agent ID 5498-5684; Status: Active * The Fulcrum agent posing as a doctor has a name tag with "Dr. J. Rosenbaum" on it. Scott Rosenbaum is writer and executive producer of this episode. * While Mit ( Micheal Strahah ) plays the Madden game, his team on the game is the New York Giants; the very team he spent his professional career. * Jeff mentions The Faces of Death. A movie made in 1978 that supposedly publicize recording real deaths. * This is the first episode of many that the line "Sweep the leg" from the Karate Kid is used. * A few of Sarah's aliases are revealed by CIA Director Graham: Jennifer Burton (San Diego), Katie O'Connell (Wisconsin), Rebecca Franko (Cleveland). However, the name on her birth certificate, which is her real name, is never revealed. * Chuck: Of all the semi-tart, Asian-influenced frozen yogurt shops in all the towns in all the world, you walked into hers? Chuck parodies the famous line from the 1942 movie Casablanca: Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine. * This episode flashbacks to Sarah's high school experiences. Several allusions are made to various high school-related movies: Heather Chandler is also the name of the main "Heather" in Heathers, who was similarly part of a vicious, popular clique. Mark Ratner is also the name of a character from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Sarah wins a crown at the reunion covered in blood, a possible homage to the prom queen scene in Carrie. The reunion was filled with hit men trying to kill one another, much like in Grosse Point Blank. * The flashback scene featuring Jeff Barnes flanked by models while being interviewed after his moment of triumph is similar in setup and tone to Jeff Spicoli's dream sequence in ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), where he imagines himself a world class surfer. * Missile Command was actually created by Dave Theurer and does not feature a kill screen. After level 256, it instead returns to level 1. * The new Assistant Manager of Buy More is named Emmett Milbarge. I believe this is a reference to the 1985 film Spies Like Us where the two main characters were Emmett Fitz-Hume and Austin Millbarge played by Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd respectively. * The thug with the name Farrokh Bulsara is probarly a reference to Queen band front person, Freddie Mercury. Farrokh Bulsara was Freddie's birth name. * As Jeff prepares himself for his challenge to reach the "Kill Screen," the song "The Touch" by Stan Bush is played which premiered in the 1986 ''Transformers the Movie. * The scene after the closing credits of Fast Times at Ridgemont High is the Missile Command screen showing "The End." Trivia *When Chuck is performing the computer support at the BioScience conference, he announces that he is using 10BaseT to connect the servers. 10BaseT only runs at 10 megabits per second, and is far too slow to connect modern servers. *When Sarah begins giving the lecture in Jill's place she assumes an Australian accent. This is Yvonnne Strahovski's 'Hollywood Australian' accent which is ironic considering her own natural accent is Australian. *Although Ellie's full first name has previously been revealed to be Eleanor, Lester refers to her as Elizabeth. This is not be an error by the writers, but instead in keeping with Lester's character. *This is the first episode in which Chuck is shown to carry a badge. Additionally, while Chuck has also been seen working directly with law enforcement officers and tactical teams before, such as leading a team onto the roof to apprehend Colt in "Chuck Versus the First Date", this episode is the first explicit indication that he has some level of authority over local and federal law enforcement agencies. *Jill's boss is named Guy LaFleur which is the name of a famous hockey player. Trivia * When Jill asks Chuck when they should meet at Buy More he gives her a "nerd code" so Casey won't be able to follow them. Chuck tells Jill to take the latent heat of aquatic fusion (in calories/gram) and then to subtract the atomic number of the element thulium. The latent heat of aquatic fusion (the heat required to turn ice to water) is approximately 80 calories/gram. The atomic number of thulium is 69. 80 - 69 = 11. Chuck and Jill went on their date while the sun was up so Chuck probably intended for Jill to meet him at 11 o'clock am. * When Chuck looks at Morgan's locker at the Buy More, there is a sticker on it from the San Diego Comic Con. Ironically, if Morgan had gone to it he may have seen the cast of Chuck there talking about their second season. * While Chuck is talking to Morgan at the Buy More, the Looney Tunes short "What's Opera, Doc?" is playing on all of the TV screens in the background. It stars Bugs Bunny & Elmer Fudd in a parody of opera (especially the works of Wagner) and is one of the most known shorts. This is especially fitting as part of the episode is related to opera. * The Fibonocci sequence that Chuck mentions for the puzzle is also used in 'The Da Vinci Code' * While "Team Chuck" was in the theater trying to solve the next puzzle, Chuck ask Jill if she took violin lessons. As we see in "Chuck versus the Cougars," Sarah should have know the violin as well since in the flash back she is carrying a violin walking the school's hall. Trivia *When Big Mike hits Leader you can clearly see his gun come flying out of his hands, but when they cut and show you the scene from the back as he lands in the pile of boxes, his gun is back in his hand. *In the scene where Morgan and Lester are getting ready to eat their "turkey dinner," Morgan's response is reminiscent of when Cypher on the Matrix is about to pull the "plug" on Switch and she says "Not like this." Allusions *Chuck faces Leader in a room full of mirrors similar to Bruce Lee facing the enemy in 'Enter the Dragon' *While interrogating Jill, Casey states that she is "damaging my calm". Casey uses this several times during the series as a reference to his role as Jayne on Firefly. Trivia *When Morgan goes into the Buy More break room to talk to his buddies about the Employee Of The Month program, Jeff Barnes is playing a classic Mattel Electronics Pocket Electronic Football game. This hand held game which used a 9 volt battery was originally released in 1977 and re-released in 2000. *Whilst determinedly ignoring Ty Bennett, Morgan appears to be reading a copy of Ambush Bug: Year None #1, with a cover publication date of September 2008. Allusions * "This from the agent that can't keep her chocolate out of Bartowski's peanut butter." - Casey alludes to the classic advertising campaign for the Reese's chocolate peanut butter cups. *Casey (Adam Baldwin) tells Chuck that "you are damaging my calm." In the movie Serenity, Adam Baldwin's character Jayne says of another character (River) that "She is startin' to damage my calm." Trivia *When the real employees of the building are returning to the upper floor, the elevator incorrectly shows them traveling downwards rather than upwards. *Stefanie Scott (Young Sarah) was nominated for the 2009 Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Series-Guest Starring Young Actress". *When Chuck checks the his ATM account there is $10,002,520.00 in his account which would have left him $20.00 after lending Morgan $2,500.00 to repay Captain Awesome, and if the 10 million was not deposited in his account by Sarah's Father, which Chuck did not know was there when Morgans asks. *According to Jack Burton's discussion with Sarah about the "Schnook," he mentions that Chuck actually has $2,200 in his bank account. That would mean Chuck deposited approximately $300 during the time Jack saw Chuck's account and Morgan borrowing the money. This would be consistent with the $12.50 an hour Chuck would make for one weeks work and a small amount of activity on his account. Allusions *The building being "sold" is the Nakatomi Plaza, a reference to Die Hard. *Chuck's German impersonation is the accent used by Hogan's Heroes character Col. Klink. Casey actually comments on the similarity of Chuck's German to Klink's. *Chuck finds the money that the team just tricked of the businessman hidden on his ATM account. In the movie Office Space, which co-stared Gary Cole, Sarah's father on Chuck, Peter Gibbons finds the money he stole from Initech on his ATM. *The music that plays when Morgan first sees the DeLorean is the same that is played in a similar scene in Ferris Bueller's Day off where the characters admire and then "borrow" Cameron's Father's 1961 Ferrari. *When Sarah confronts Chuck, he is hiding behind a menu similar to the character Skinner in Ratatouille in where he says "I will have whatever he is having", however, Chuck says (similar to Skinner's voice) "Yes, I'd like the Linguini with Clam Sauce please". Linguini is the main character in Ratatouille. Zachary Levi is a well known Disney movie fan. *Sarah's father is named Jack Burton, the name of Kurt Russel's character from Big Trouble in Little China. *According to General Beckman, Sarah's father checks into a hotel using the name Guido Merkens after obtaining the money. Guido Merkens was an NFL Football player from 1978 to 1987. Trivia *Milbarge claims that his grandmother is dying of Leukoplakia. A condition, according to the Mayo Clinic site, are white patches within the mouth that are not able to be scraped off. It continues to state that the cause is unknown but tobacco use may irritate the condition. *When Sarah shoots Mauser on the Christmas Tree lot, she is holding her pistol in her right hand. The shot then quickly cuts away to Chuck to show his reaction and then quickly back to Sarah who is now holding the pistol with both hands (one would presume to show the charm bracelet). The shot then cuts quickly once again and Sarah is once again holding the pistol in her right hand. Also note that the image is mirrored left-to-right; the pistol's ejector, located on the left, is viewed on the right side of the pistol. *The hostage taker/gunman is named Ned Rhyerson, which is the name of the insurance agent in the movie Groundhog Day. *Big Mike's Cousin is Sgt. Al Powell, played by Reginald VelJohnson, who played the same roll in Die Hard 1 & 2. *VelJohnson has portrayed the character of a Police Officer in many films and TV, most notably in the above mentioned Die Hard series and the TV series Family Matters. *Lt. Mauser is the name of the bungling Lt. in the Police Academy movies. Trivia *In the scene where Achmed Gambir is attacking Chuck, the knife that came out of Achmed's sleeve has a bank handle and a serrated knife. When Achmed places the knife down, it has a gold handle and smooth knife. When Achmed goes for the knife the last time, it again has a black handle and serrated knife. *Dominic Monaghan also played a rock star in the ABC series Lost. *In this episode, the singer Tyler has a tattoo in Arabic which is supposed to contain information about a terrorist plot. In reality is just a decorative medallion you can find inside a mosque that says, among other stuff related "Allah (God) in his supremacy and majesty", all of it is from the holy book for Muslims, the Qur'an. *At the concert Casey and Sarah communicated with Chuck using their wrist-watches and talking to Chuck on his cell-phone, but when Chuck was running away from the assassin he used his own wrist-watch-radio to speak to Sarah and not his phone. *The background for the theme song in this episode was altered to have more of a 3D effect. Pop/Geek Culture References *When Emmett is going over the rules for Tyler Martin's appearance, he yells 'No touching!" which was a line frequently used in Arrested Development. Tony Hale played Buster Bluth in Arrested Development. *The grenade that Chuck flashes on is identified as an IG-88. IG-88 is the droid bounty hunter from Star Wars episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. *Tyler Martin announces that there are golden tickets hidden in his CD's which is from 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' *Tyler points at an apparently Chinese(?) symbol tattooed on his arm and says "This one means Serenity..." A reference to the ship from Firefly. *When Morgan decides to give Butterman the Golden ticket the music is from the scene where Andy Dufresne's character from Shawshank Redemption plays opera to the courtyard. *When Butterman, an ex-con, sells the Golden Ticket, he says the money will buy a ticket to Zihuatanejo which is the same place that the characters from Shawshank Redemption reunite after escaping and being released from prison. *Jeff quotes/references Shawshank at different points saying "You put anything in my mouth, I will bite down hard", and "Get busy living, or get busy dying", the last being the signature and defining quote of the movie. *Lester also responds to "Get busy living or get busy dying" by saying "True Dat", similar to Red (Morgan Freeman) saying "Damn Straight" near the end of the movie. Trivia *The phone number on the grocery list given to Chuck by Sarah is the information number (805)555-1212 which has a California area code. *When Chuck is playing with his iPhone on his Valentine's Day date with Sarah he is playing the Missile Command game Application made by Atari. This is the same game Chuck had to play in "Chuck Vs. Tom Sawyer" to get the codes for the satellite. *When Casey came to rescue Sarah and Chuck in the torture room, Casey mentioned the "cable guy" reference from the Cable Guy movie. *The scene when Chuck is hooked up to the Fulcrum machine to install the "Dark Intersect" is an allusion to the Ludovico Technique from the movie A Clockwork Orange *The scene of Chuck and Sarah having their eyes closed while the "Dark Intersect" was running is reminiscent of Indiana Jones and Marion doing the same when the ark was opened while the Nazis were destroyed in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Trivia *Anna's full name is revealed to be Anna Melinda Wu, *Jeff's actual first name is revealed to be Jefferson. *When Lester is unsure about the audition, Jeff convinces him to participate by reciting the opening lines of Eminem's song "Lose Yourself" Trivia * In the scene where Lester is taping green shirts on a picture of five women, between cuts the picture changes from one with only one shirt taped on to one with all five women in green shirts and back again. *Casey asks for surveillance from a NASA satellite. However, NASA is a civilian space agency and doesn't control or have access to any surveillance satellites. USA surveillance satellites are the responsibility of the NRO (National Reconnaissance Office). *On the Queen's Order to Cole Barker, "recognized" is spelt the American way. An order from the Queen of the United Kingdom would use the British spelling "recognised". *On the information Sarah sees about Cole Barker it says he was "born in to Jason Barker and Mary Fields", although it should say "born to" instead of "born in to" *The scene where they are hand-cuffed and hanging about to be tortured is from the original "Lethal Weapon" in a scene where Riggs is about to be tortured. Trivia *When Cole Barker is shot for the first time in the party, Sarah says "oh my god, you're shot." She pronounces the word shot in an Australian accent. This is Yvonne Strahovski's real Australian accent. *When Chuck tells his sister he's not moving in with Sarah, you can for a few seconds see that the room doesn't have a roof *The t-shirt Sarah is wearing as a pajama top is the same shirt Chuck wore under his white dinner jacket at the end of "Chuck Versus the Seduction". *The title of the episode is a reference to the classic buddy-cop action/comedy Lethal Weapon. Allusion * Morgan walks in as Jeff and Lester are poking fun at Big Mike dating Morgan's mother. Morgan makes the comment "Laugh it up fuzz-balls." A direct reference to Han's remark in the scene in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back ''when Chewbaca laughs at Leia's insult to Han. * When Cole remarks "go for the knee" in referencing taking out the Fulcrum agents, Chuck responds "...sweep the leg?" Chuck is referring to the line in the 1984 movie ''The Karate Kid. This line is used several times in the Chuck series. Trivia *In Hong Kong when Orion notices Fulcrum agents closing in on him, he turns his screen to the black message screen. When the scene cuts to another camera angle, the screen is back to normal and then black again in the next camera change. *The Ex Machina comic book series details the life of Mitchell Hundred (also known as the Great Machine). This is an obvious parallel to Chuck having the intersect in his head. *In Chuck's flash on Vincent, a service history of LTC Vincent Smith is shown, that falsely calls him LTC Wolfe *This episode has several references to the Mummy series: #The main bad guy in this episode is Arnold Vosloo who played Imhotep. #The Buy More was TP'd or "mummified". #Emmett, while at the Burbank Buy More, hits the cardboard cutout and knocks down the DVD/Music display racks in the exact same way both Evelyn and Alex did it to the book racks in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. #Smith (Vosloo) takes "tetrodotoxin" which makes Smith appear to be dead. Smith later comes out of the body bag. This ties back into the Mummy where ''Imhotep was resurrected from the dead. '''Trivia' *In the vault, Casey turns the valve of the nitrous oxide tank anti-clockwise, which opens the valve, instead of clockwise to close the valve. *One of the names that scrolls by as Sarah begins her search for Chuck's father is Robert Duncan McNeill, the show's supervising producer and sometimes director. McNeill also played the role of Tom Paris in Star Trek TNG and Voyager. *The female agent sent to evaluate Sarah is named Alex Forrest. Alex Forrest was the name of Glenn Close's character in the 1987 motion picture Fatal Attraction. This is appropriate in that the episode's Forrest wants to disrupt Chuck's relationship with Sarah in much the same way that the movie version tried to disrupt Michael Douglas' relationship with his wife. *Ahmad uses the alias "Harry Lime" for checking into the hospital. Harry Lime was the character played by Orson Welles in the 1943 classic film The Third Man. *When Devon is waking up with his hangover, he tells Ellie ( Sarah Lancaster ) "...don't mention the word 'Bell'". A possible reference to Lancaster's roll in "Saved by the Bell". Trivia *The episode has a smattering of indirect references to Silicon Valley execs. The whole NextExpo is a reference to Steve Job's second computer company "NeXT Computer". During the Expo, Ted Roark brags about money similar to Larry Ellison's wealth. The entire casual dress and office atmosphere is reminiscent of Google and others. The line where Ted states to Chucks father "I always had the way with the girls" is a reference to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Woz was always the computer guy who could create anything while Jobs was the master salesman. Ted's glasses, monster image and goals to taking over the world seem to be a reference to Bill Gates and Microsoft. *Chuck's father tells Chuck "Aces, Charles." This was said by Chuck's sister Ellie in the pilot episode where Chuck replied, "A dad quote, I'm impressed." *When Stephen Bartowski meets Ellie for the first time in years. The first this he says is "Oh Boy". Which is from Scott Bakula most popular TV Show, Quantum Leap. *After Chuck's interview he ask a series of "What's this?" questions. This mimics the Honda commercial where youth actor, Cole Sands, continually asking a salesman questions. Both Chuck and the youth's barrage of questions end with the answer "That's the restroom." Trivia *Casey, Chuck, and Sarah dragging Bernie's dead body out of the party while pretending he is alive is likely a reference to the 1989 film Weekend at Bernie's, as is Bernie's name. *"Lester: Yes captain, my captain." - Referencing Walt Whitman's 1865 poem "O Captain! My Captain!", a metaphor poem referring to Lincoln's assassination. The phrase was also used repeatedly in the 1989 film, "Dead Poets Society". *The scene where Big Mike kisses Morgan and says, "I know it was you, Morgan. You broke my heart. You broke my heart!" is an allusion to the movie The Godfather where Al Pacino kisses "Fredo" and says the same thing *"Emmett: (Handing Big Mike a green shirt) Welcome back to gen pop, Michael." - Gen pop is shorthand in corrections institutions for "general population," the main housing area where prisoners are kept absent in special circumstances or discipline. *Fulcrum agents in the past have mentioned they were working for America. In this episode during the Leader seminar's "short training video" they say "good luck - comrades"; and throughout the building are posters that represent cold war propaganda for Communism. *When Chuck flashes on the name "Black Rock", the coordinates 34 degrees 53' 56.40" -117 degrees 1' 19.20" in Barstow, CA. The coordinates are located near 504 Clark Street in Barstow, where there is a vacant lot, but not a drive-in theater. Trivia *The Dodge Challenger that Sarah and Chuck drive appears to be the same car from the FOX tv series Drive *Towards the end of the make-out scene, Sarah is lying diagonally with her head on the edge of the mattress during the wide shots, but laying normally with her head on her pillow for all of the intercut close-ups. *At the very end of the episode, when Ted Roark gets in a truck, as it drives away you can see the shadows of the crew reflected in it. *During the episode Emmett has labeled Morgan as his assistant manager or "ass man". This was also a running joke during "Chuck Versus the Seduction", where Chuck leapt from the Buy More off of a "new assistant manager" banner. After it was ripped down and put back up it read "new ass man". *Ted Roark's uses a drive-in theater as a base. In the movie Spies Like Us , starring Chevy Chase, the 'bad guys' use a drive-in theater as a base. Trivia *In the beginning of the episode General Beckman is telling Sarah and Bryce that they're supposed to be leaving for Zurich (Switzerland) the next morning.She ends her speech by saying "Auf Wiedersehen" which is, however, German for "good-bye". The Swiss term would have been "Uf Wiederluege" *Towards the end of the episode, Chuck drops into an all white room which contains the Intersect computer and re-downloads an updated version of the Intersect back into his head then destroys it. This scene mirrors the scene in the pilot episode that introduces Bryce Larkin. *Bryce lies bleeding in the all white room; but when he is moved, there is no blood seen anywhere in this room. *Casey's personal number is 323-555-0173. *Chuck's address is listed as: 1838 Franklin St. Los Angeles, CA 90026 *While Jeffster is playing, Jeff says to the cellist: "...Watch me for the changes." This is a reference to Back to the Future when Marty McFly tells the band to "watch me for the changes" as he plays at the enchantment under the sea dance. *After being updated with the new Intersect and beating the "spies" with martial arts moves, Chuck says, "guys, I know Kung Fu." This is likely a reference to the first movie in the sci-fi trilogy The Matrix directed by the Wachowski brothers. In this movie, Neo (Keanu Reeves) is plugged into a machine that can "download" skills into someone's brain. After a time of "downloading", Neo says to Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), "I know Kung Fu. *When Chuck's Intersect 2.0 goes online. There are a few words in the mix of pictures. Some of them are actually Japanese words in Chinese characters, which is also know as Kanji: #. Karate (a Japanese martial art) #. Kyūdō (Japanese art of archery, "Way of Archery") #. Gong Fu (which is a popular name for Chinese martial arts) Season three Trivia *The capitol city of the Czech Republic (in the east from Germany), Prague, is seen in this episode. But there are some flaws: **Sarah tells Chuck: For now, go to the training facility in Prague, then meet me at the Nadrazi train station…" but the word "nadrazi" has in Czech meaning of "station". The name of this particular train station is "Praha hlavní nádraží", which means "Prague - main station". Sarah should have said for example: "meet me at the Hlavni nadrazi station". **Although the Czech texts on the station are correct, there is a window with a sign "Letenky" which means "airline tickets". Maybe there should have been "Jízdenky" which means "train tickets". **There is no such view from the main railway station in Prague, like it is portrayed in the show. Pop/Geek Culture References * When Chuck is lying on the couch eating cheese balls, he grows a beard to go with his bath robe, while the song "Just dropped in (To see what condition my condition was in)" plays over the montage of him eating. This is a reference to Jeff Lebowski, who is the titular character in the film "The Big Lebowski", who spends most of his days on the couch in a bathrobe. The song also appears in the film, however to a montage of Lebowski on an acid trip. * The boxing scene at the end of the episode with "Eye of the Tiger" playing that ends on a freeze frame of Casey and Chuck punching is a reference to the ending of Rocky III. "Chuck Versus the Three Words" Trivia "Chuck Versus the Angel of Death" Trivia "Chuck Versus Operation Awesome" Pop/Geek Culture References * The entire Buy-more plot line is an homage to Fight Club (movie and book) ** Lester says he feels like a man for the first time in years after he gets hit by Chuck ** Lester's sunglasses are the same kind that Brad Pitt wears in the movie as Tyler Durden ** Many of the lines are direct quotes from the movie, such as Jeff saying "I want you to hit me as hard as you can" * When Ellie and Awesome arrive at Chuck and Morgan's apartment at the end of the episode, Morgan says "Hidely Ho Neighbors", a reference to the classic Simpson's character Ned Flanders' catchphrase "Hidely Ho Neighborinos". "Chuck Versus First Class" Trivi'''a * Chuck is sent to Paris on a mission. This is a reoccurring reference to Casablanca. * Morgan is continually hazed by his fellow Buy More companions. In one scene Morgan obtains Casey's help as his "muscle" to end the pranks played on Morgan. Morgan refers to his new muscle as "Mr. Casey" as Casey extinguishes his cigar into the palm of his hand. This references ''Lethal Weapon'' as Mr. Joshua (Gary Busey) performs the same act. * Hannah plays a game with Chuck guessing other passengers' occupation. Hannah turns and guesses that Ring agent Hugo Panzer's ('Stone Cold' Steve Austin) occupation is a professional wrestler. "Chuck Versus the Nacho Sampler" when Chuck, Casey and Sarah are walking through weap-con one of the pitchmen is advertising a mobile interrogation vehicle titled EM-50. The EM-50 was the "urban assault vehicle" from the comedy movie Stripes. '''Trivia "Chuck Versus the Mask" Pop/Geek Culture References * When Hannah describes Shaw as "ridiculously good looking", Chuck responds with "Ya, if you're into the strong, kinda superman-y type of a..." which is a reference to the fact that Brandon Routh portrayed Superman. Also Hannah (Kristen Kreux) portrayed Lana Lang, on the show smallville, who was a love interest of young clark kent/superman * When Chuck is looking for the poison's counter agent, he looks at the vases and says "Come on Chuck, 'one of these things is not like the other'." This is in reference to the small reoccurring segment on Sesame Street playing a game with the viewer to find the object that is different from the rest. "Chuck Versus the Fake Name" Trivia * We learn that Sarah's real first name is "Sam." Making Sarah's real name, possibly, Samantha Lisa Burton. Continuity * When Chuck walks into the hotel room with the thugs, one tells Chuck that Shaw "is with a real hot piece of tail." Trouble is that Sarah arrived just before Chuck and his accomplices entered the room without looking through the scope, and therefore would not have known if anyone was even with Shaw. "Chuck Versus the Beard" Pop/Geek Culture References * The picture that the Buymore employees take while planting the flag of Buymoria is a reference to the famous "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima" photo taken during WW2 during the battle of Iwo Jima. * The photo taken of the flag raising is not quite the position the Buy More employees were in when it is actually snapped. * The song Jeffster sang to show their protest against the selling of the store was "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) released in 1969. The song became an anit-war song against the Vietnam War. * After Big Mike receives the call from "corporate" to give all the Buy More employees their jobs back, two employees embrace in a kiss mimicking the photo in Life magazine taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt of a sailor kissing a nurse in Time Square, New York on August 14th 1945 at the announcement of the surrender of Japan (V-J Day) ending World War II. A 25 foot statue of the photo stands near the decommissioned Naval aircraft carrier the "Midway" in San Deigo Harbor near a statue of Bob Hope. "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac" Pop/Geek Culture References Continuity * It is in this episode that we learn that John Casey is actually Alex Coburn. Earlier during "Chuck Versus the Santa Clause," Casey calls his mother on his cell phone and says "...it's Johnny Boy." This shows that he at least told his mother he was still alive. * At the end of the episode, Sarah is in a cab and the driver ask if Sarah was from D.C. where she answers "No." This contradicts the pilot where Sarah is telling Chuck that she just moved from D.C. because she realized that all her friends were "Bruce's" Bryce friends. "Chuck Versus the Subway" Pop/Geek Culture References * When Beckman is talking to Morgan and Awesome on the TV at Castle, the glitching TV causes the line "You are our only hope" to loop. which is a reference to the message Luke Skywalker sees on the malfunctioning R2-unit in the movie Star Wars: A New Hope, which is "Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!" looped. * Chuck flashes on a placard on a control panel, stating that McTiernan Industries is a Ring subsidiary. John McTiernan directed Die Hard (1988) and Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995). Season four Chuck Versus the Anniversary Trivia * The FAA registry lists N2000A (the jet Sarah and Casey take to Moscow) is a Dassault Falcon 2000. Chuck Versus the Masquerade * On the wall behind Chuck when they are packing, the covers for Infinity, Inc. (1984 series) #s 20, 21, & 22, and Detective Comics (1937 series) #581 are framed together. On the wall to his left is the cover of Martian Manhunter (1998 series) #17. Category:Content